Attention law students

It’s been a couple of weeks since Sun columnist Dan Rodricks has written about invoicing Rep. Al Wynn for the costs of a special election needed to fill the seat he is vacating to make a killing on K Street.

It is his – or any member’s – right to leave when he chooses to do so, but there is something very wrong with seeking another term, losing and then bailing out on the taxpayer’s dime.

Rodricks would love to compel Wynn to compensate the state, but as a columnist, the only weapon at his disposal is public shame.

Though there is another way to put pressure on Wynn and his new law firm that is unconventional, but not unheard of.

In 1976, a group of George Washington University law students launched a legal experiment to sue disgraced Vice President Spiro Agnew for the kickbacks he received in exchange for state contracts while governor. The state joined the case in 1980, leading to a 1981 ruling in Anne Arundel County Circuit Court that Agnew “violated the public trust,” ordering him to turn the money, plus interest, over to the state treasurer. Two years of appeals later, Agnew forked over a check for nearly $270,000.

Now, Wynn’s departure is spurred by a desire to make a lot of money – one that is costing the taxpayers of his district. An argument can be made that his decision to depart early violates the spirit of his oath of office, and the public trust.

Is Wynn’s blow to the sorely hurting budgets of Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties on equal footing with Agnew’s crimes? No way.

It is, however, a high profile method to remind Wynn that – like Agnew – our elected officials must never put their personal profit above the public’s interest.